| Professional Surfing Events take place at locations all around the globe. World Famous Trestles has been part of the the Association of Surfing Professional's event locations for many years. Surfing as a competitive sport is continuing to progress. The Association Of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Surfing Event at Trestles 2008 serves as proof. | 
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| More about Trestles | |||||||
| In 2008, there are eleven Professional World Tour events. World Tour event locations are picked based on their historical reputations for producing some of nature's highest quality surfing waves. The World Tour destinations include Tahiti, Fiji, Indonesia, Hawaii, Spain, Australia, France, South Africa, Brazil, and California. Trestles is located in San Clemente, California at the southern tip of Orange County. Trestles is known for its cobble stone-like rock reef, kelp beds, marine life, river mouth, long waves, local shredders, and a long history of hosting professional surfing events. The natural landscape, terrain, and US Marine base have been some of the factors that have kept this beach in pristine condition. Surfers have to take a long walk to take advantage of the waves at Trestles. Skateboards and bikes have been the preferred method for surfers in a hurry. |
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| Trestles has also been catching local and national attention in the recent years. Lobbyists have been pushing a proposal to build a Toll Road that would run along the river that runs into Trestles. The Toll Road would severely encroach on the beach and fragile habitat both directly and indirectly. The main reason that this road has not been built is due to the surf community's dedicated resistance and protests. The Surfrider Foundation has been instrumental in much of the coordinated efforts. | |||||||
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 Kelly Slater Trestles 2007
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| The sport of Surfing has noticeably progressed. After years of contests, the competition formats, rules, and criteria have been refined. More Focus and Value have been assigned to flow/style and identifiable "Critical Point Maneuvers". The use of "Instant Replay" has been integrated to help determine interference calls and wave scores. The materials and products have improved significantly. Technology has made an impact on the quality of surfboards, fins, wetsuits, leashes, and even board shorts. Materials such as fiberglass, epoxy, Velcro, Neoprene, Nylon, spandex, and even recycled water bottles have been incorporated into high performance surf gear. The most obvious proof becomes apparent when Professional surfers relentlessly challenge the known limits of surfing maneuvers. Today's surfers are combining their strong drop-in and barrel riding techniques with aerials and 360's. | |||||||
| More about Surfing | |||||||
| Competitions are set to run for a duration of time that will usually allow for a lack of swell. The 2008 World Tour Event @ Trestles had a 7 day window (September 7th-13th) and actually completed after 4 solid days of competition. The contest was called off on the first day of the event waiting period due to small surf. "No Worries" as Surfline.com forecasted multiple new swells headed for southern California. The contest kicked into gear by the 2nd day of the waiting period. Four days of solid 3 to 5 foot waves. Good swell, clean conditions, sunny skies, and relatively warm water... ...Classic Trestles. | |||||||
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| 45 of the world's top surfers plus 3 wildcard entries paddled out at Trestles this week. The Roll Call included Usual Suspects like Kelly Slater (2005 and 2007 Trestles Winner), Mick Fanning, Sunny Garcia, Taj Burrow, and Shane Beschen. Coming into the contest, Trestles Event History adds to pressure. Kelly Slater out of Florida considers The Trestles California event the closest thing he has to a home break on the World Tour. “It is the only mainland U.S. event and it's been probably the most consistent event year to year for me. I've loved Trestles since I was very young.”, Slater said. Kelly Slater has made it to the finals in the past 4 consecutive years. Slater won the Trestles event in 2005 and in 2007. Slater actually signed his 1st sponsorship contract with Quiksilver 17 years ago at Trestles. It is almost impossible to ignore the presence of an up and coming Young Gun, Dane Reynolds. Reynolds is out of Ventura and has earned wildcard entries into the Lower Trestles event in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007. In 2008, he debuts as a member of elite ASP Top 45 World Tour Competitors. | |||||||
| The Trestles 2008 contest was action packed. Right off the bat Sunny Garcia beat Taj Burrow and local surfer Chris Ward (USA) in Round 1 of the contest, putting fellow competitors on edge and gaining access into round 3 (skipping round 2). Round 2 tension led to extreme measures. Jeremy Flores gave a solid performance in Round 2 Heat 5 to push through. Bruce Irons broke out his "Old Faithful" board in Heat 6 of Round 2 to exhibit some huge fan shaped sprays resulting from his big turns. Tom Whittaker pulled off some big floaters in Heat 10, but could not beat out Luke Munro's counter attack of floaters. By Wednesday September 10th, Round 3 was in full swing. Mick Fanning served Yadin Nicol a few airs and lip cracking turns in Heat 9. In Heat 10 of Round 3, it was Taylor Knox constantly "Out The Back" to defeat Timmy Reyes. Then Kelly Slater posted a perfect 10 in Round 4. After a crowd pleasing Round 4, Dane Reynolds had already secured a place in the quarterfinals and no less than a 5th place in the event. |  Mick Fanning
Trestles 2008
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| By the quarterfinals the competitors seemed to be adjusting to the waves, and getting more comfortable with thier equipment. Bede Durbidge beat out Dane Reynolds in the first heat. Then Slater and Bobby Martinez battled it out in a showcase that featured barrel riding by both pros and a long floater by Kelly. Kelly Slater won his quarterfinal heat giving a solid performance. Jeremy Flores took down Mick Fanning in the 3rd Heat. Heat 4 of the quarterfinals featured an extreme Front-Side Air 360 by Taj Burrow who moved into the Semi-Finals. When it was time for the Finals, Kelly Slater paddled out to meet Taj Burrow. To add to the nerves, Hurley International literally just announced that they would be giving an additional $45,000 dollars to the winner of the contest. This increased the winner's earnings to a total of $75,000 dollars. The Final Heat was set to run for 40 minutes. Taj came out of the box on his opening 9.0 wave that finished with an aerial 360. Kelly countered with a speed floater. A few minutes later Kelly Slater threw his tail out to produce a huge spray. Taj dropped in on the next wave that ended with him doing a layback in front of Slater. Then Kelly Slater pulled one of his last minute high scoring waves out of his bag to clinch the Trestles 2008 Title. |
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| Professional Surfers compete at world class breaks like Trestles. Today's rippers continue to raise the bar with extreme performances. The Association of Surfing Professionals and Kelly Slater proved that point once again at The World Tour Trestles Event 2008. | |||||||
| Sources | |||||||
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1st Hand (Trade Federation Inc. On-Site) Trade Federation Article: The U.S. Open Of Surfing Trade Federation Article: Association Of Surfing Professionals Trade Federation Video: Mick Fanning and Taylor Knox win Round 3 Heats 9/10/2008 http://www.aspworldtour.com and media feed. Dave Prodan, International Media Manager ASP North America 9/3/2008, 9/4/2008 ASP 2008 Rule Book Domaille Blogs: Alternative Sports Surfrider Foundation 9/11/2008 Erica Rose Boost Mobile Pro Public Relations 9/7/2008 The Boost Mobile Pro debuts as an hour-long show on FUEL TV's Surfspot October 23 at 8pm EST. Photography: Philip Dominguez (Trestles 2007 Dane/Kelly/Trestles Sign and 2008 Mick photos and article graphics) ASP/Covered Images Trestles 2008 Slater Barrel and Burrow Spray - plus 2007 More Photos section |
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